The effectiveness of treating lupus with a drug approved for treating plaque psoriasis and active psoriatic arthritis will be tested in a clinical study.

The study, which will be conducted by the Alliance for Lupus Research and Janssen Research & Development, LLC, will evaluate the drug, ustekinumab (Stelara) for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, the Alliance announced in a written statement .

Ustenkinumab was selected for this study as part of the LRxL-STAT Lupus Drug Repositioning Initiative, which seeks to find therapies approved for indications other than lupus that can also treat lupus. Ustenkinumab was identified as the most promising biologic candidate for treating lupus over hundreds of other potential lupus therapies.

The ALR and Janssen will begin recruiting patients for the study later this year.

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